Fans get first glimpse of Livestrong Park

On Sunday, Sporting Kansas City handed out season tickets and let the holders get their first glimpse of Livestrong Sporting Park. Having seen the stadium a few times, it was nice to see the joy on some of the fans faces as they took in the park and found their seats.

On Sunday, Sporting Kansas City handed out season tickets and let the holders get their first glimpse of Livestrong Sporting Park. Having seen the stadium a few times, it was nice to see the joy on some of the fans faces as they took in the park and found their seats.

I felt like I was watching a bunch of strangers open a really nice Christmas gift. Seats were found, oohs were ahhed and the grass was kissed.

My wife, who hadn't seen the stadium since early in December, offered a deadpan take: "Well, it's a lot better than where they played last year." We were rather impressed with the small attention to detail on the restroom signage.

However, the stadium wasn't quite ready for the traffic. It was slightly strange to see fans -- without hard hats -- wandering through an active construction site. Sure, Sporting had many employees trolling through to answer questions and keep people out of certain sections -- namely, the Members Club -- but there were workers on scissor lifts performing maintenance on the scoreboard and lights and scattered construction pieces -- pipes, wood, boxes, etc. -- strewn over the concourse.

Seemed like a good idea to let fans in, but a bad idea to have them roam free. Seemed like an accident or two waiting to happen.

Some other odds and ends from the shin-dig.

• Someday, Livestrong Park will be a smoke-free environment; it hasn't been thus far. Workers have left their mark in cigarette butts. From Jason Weaver on Twitter: "Not sure which will take longer before June 9th: Finish Stadium, or clean after crew." Next time I'm out there (Thursday), I'll count all the Five Hour Energy bottles.

• The lines were painted on the field. It was a nice touch.

• The board along the field are going in now. Looks just like the field boards at Qwest Field in Seattle.

• The season-ticket package itself is very, very nice. Included: A welcome letter about membership from Sasha Victorine, a voucher for the season-ticket holder scarf, tickets and parking vouchers.

I don't know if they hired out the design for the tickets/box or it was Chad Reynolds and company, but they are quite nice. (As a designer myself, it's fantastic to see such nice work done on a ticket.)

• According to the tickets, the Los Angeles Galaxy game that was bumped for Farm Aid is now on Thursday, August. 11th.

• The crowds were good. When I was out, about 100-130 people were out there.

• The team will continue the ticket pickup/tour Monday and Tuesday from 4-8 p.m.

Did you go out on Sunday? Tell me what you thought in the comments or drop me